"Robert Pattinson"

Name: Robert Pattinson
Date of Birth: May 13, 1986
Place of Birth: London, England, UK

Mini-bio: Robert Pattinson is best known for portraying Edward Cullen in the film adaptations of author Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series. He first came to widespread attention for 2005's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as Cedric Diggory, an older rival from another wizard academy who competes directly with Harry in a tournament to win the titular goblet. Despite being in Harry Potter, Pattinson had reservations about auditioning for the part of the perfect vampire from Meyer's books. In fact, once cast, he faced a backlash from fans who insisted he was not the right choice to play Edward. With the first film, Twilight (2008), and subsequent sequels New Moon (2009) and Eclipse (2010), however, the fan response warmed towards Pattinson. Born in London, Pattinson is the son of a modeling agency scout and a vintage car dealer. At 12 he would begin a modeling career, but abandon it a few years later as he began to look more masculine and found himself less in demand for jobs.

He began acting at 15, saying that at the time his primary interest was meeting pretty girls. In addition to acting, Pattinson also plays and composes music. He counts it as a backup plan in case acting fails, and has so far performed songs on the soundtracks for Twilight and How to Be (2008), in which he play a struggling but untalented musician. In other roles, Pattinson appeared as a young Salvador Dali in the slight historical drama Little Ashes (2008), received a Nickelodeon Teen Choice Award for the romantic coming of age drama, Remember Me (2010), and acted opposite Reese Witherspoon in the romantic drama Water for Elephants (2011).